Alexander Douglas McCartney (14 November 1879 – 21 July 1968) was an Irish international

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

, active in both Ireland and England, who played as a full back.

Career

Born in the Ballynafeigh district of

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingd ...

, McCartney played youth football with Rosetta National School, Ferndale of the Belfast Alliance League, and then Hatfield, before beginning his senior career in 1900 with

Distillery Distillation, or classical distillation, is the process of separating the components or substances from a liquid mixture by using selective boiling and condensation, usually inside an apparatus known as a still. Dry distillation is the heat ...

. McCartney later played for

Ulster Ulster (; ga, Ulaidh or ''Cúige Uladh'' ; sco, label=Ulster Scots, Ulstèr or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional Irish provinces. It is made up of nine counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kin ...

and Linfield before moving to England to join Everton, where he spent a single season without making a League appearance. He moved to

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium ...

, along with Everton teammate George Kitchen, in the summer of 1905 and played six Southern League Division One games for the club during 1905–06. After leaving West Ham, McCartney returned to Ireland and played for Belfast Celtic and Glentoran, before returning to Linfield. McCartney earned fifteen caps for

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

between 1903 and 1909.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McCartney, Alec 1879 births 1968 deaths Association footballers from Belfast Irish association footballers (before 1923) Pre-1950 IFA international footballers Lisburn Distillery F.C. players Ulster F.C. players Linfield F.C. players Everton F.C. players West Ham United F.C. players Belfast Celtic F.C. players Glentoran F.C. players Association football fullbacks